It’s been a few days since Xellos and Merlin moved in closer.
They’re living in tents near ours, but nothing’s really changed.
I’ve become somewhat closer to Xellos, but it’s not like we’re eating together every day or anything.
They’re working to live on their own somehow, and one of the things they’re working on is building a place to live.
“How is it going?”
“Hey Arata. Well, kinda slowly.”
Xellos brought down a big tree, and he’s making planks from it.
Mages can use magic energy to strengthen their physical abilities, so he’s working with a lot more strength than you’d think.
That said, he looks kind of tired, and I see sweat running down his forehead.
“Oh, and where’s Merlin?”
“She said she was tired, so she went to the river. And Reina was with her.”
“Eh… Those two have gotten closer recently.”
“Yes. Well, I think what happened recently has been making Merlin think about some stuff. She’s been giving Reina advice too.”
I can’t think of anything that’s happened recently, so I’m assuming he’s talking about Wil’s attack.
But would that make Reina and Merlin closer? As I think that, Xellos looks at me with an exasperated expression.
“What’s with that face?”
“It’s nothing, I’m just thinking that Reina’s got her work cut out for her.”
“I don’t really get it, but… Nevermind, do you want me to help?”
“Oh, thanks. Can you gather those trees I just brought down?”
As I organize the trees, something pops into my mind.
Xellos and Merlin want to build a house, because they don’t want to keep living in tents, but Reina and I never thought of that, even though we’ve been living on this island for longer.
Reina’s military tent is pretty big, so it’s never really been a problem.
That said, Reina is a grown girl. I’m sure living with a guy like me is causing her all sorts of problems and making her conscious of various things.
“So that’s what he meant by her having her work cut out for her?”
What Xellos said earlier is making me think that getting closer to Merlin probably means they’ve been talking about girl stuff recently.
Reina never complained to me about anything like that, but she probably has a lot of things troubling her. I’m older, so I really should be more considerate.
“I really should be more conscious of those things.”
Now that I think about it, Merlin and Xellos each live in their own tent too.
If even people like them who’ve known each other for years are like that, it really must be weird for a guy and a girl who met here on the island to live together.
“All right, now that I’m aware of that, I’ll make a house so Reina can live in peace.”
I’ll make a space where she can protect her privacy, and borrow her tent for a while longer.
“…I think there’s some sort of misunderstanding going on, but fine.”
I hear Xellos whisper, but it doesn’t seem that serious, so I don’t ask him to repeat it, and instead tidy up the large trees one after the other.
◇ ◇ ◇
“And so, let’s build a house too.”
“Hum… What do you mean, and so?”
I presented my proposal to Reina after she came back from the river, and it left her with a bewildered expression on her face. Maybe it really is too sudden.
“I don’t think I need to worry about anything regarding you at this… Ah.”
I guess something did come to mind, because Reina interrupts her own sentence.
Her face is getting a little red. I knew it.
“Xellos and Merlin are building a house, so I think we’d cut a lot of time if we put our materials together.”
“I guess you do have a point in that it’s strange that we’ve never even considered it…”
“Yes. If we build a house, we can both have our private spaces, and I’m sure it’ll be helpful in many ways.”
“Yes… Sorry I didn’t notice it all this time.”
“…Hm?”
Why is she apologizing to me?
I’m the one who never thought of it, and should be apologizing…
“You’re a man. You have, hum, all sorts of, you know, things.”
She’s acting kind of distant all of a sudden, and her face is a little red from embarrassment.
What’s going on in her head? What is she imagining?
“All right. Then let’s make a house with our own separate rooms.”
“Hum… I was thinking more about two houses…”
“Let’s get working right away then. We need to make various preparations. I have never done anything like build a house… But I’m sure it will work out!”
Reina interrupts me mid sentence, sounding fired up.
Wouldn’t it make sense to build two houses? But Reina is moving around so briskly, that I don’t really feel like stopping her.
And so, we work on building a house for a while.
Our base is in the middle of the forest, and all the trees around us are big and tall. That means we don’t have trouble finding materials.
“Mister, are you building a house?”
“Yes. Living in a tent is going to cause all sorts of problems.”
“Eh… It looks fun! Let Luna help!”
Says Luna with a big smile, contrasting with Tiltue’s face.
She doesn’t look too happy, after hearing me explain how we came up with the idea to build a house.
“Darling, about building a house for you to live with Reina… Well, I can let that go. But I want a room in that house too!”
“Eh…”
“What’s with that attitude!? You’re basically building a little love nest for you and Reina! Not fair! I want a love nest too!”
“Love nest…”
She kind of sounds like an old woman, and she’s misunderstanding what’s going on here. I don’t know what to tell her.
Basically, in her head, building a home together is a big event for a couple.
Considering she calls me darling, that’s not something that’s easy for her to overlook.
“Hum, Tiltue… I’ve told you before, but we’re not doing anything like building a love nest. We respect each others’ lives, and that’s why we’re building this house…”
“That’s just what you think, darling! I’m sure Reina has all sorts of things in mind!”
“I really don’t think that’s true…”
I don’t know what things she’s referring to, but I’m sure Reina isn’t scheming anything.
“Uu…”
“You can sulk all you want, but…”
“I’m not sulking! I just want a room too!”
“Oh, then why not make it?”
As I work while talking to Tiltue and Luna, Reina brings me lunch.
It’s a pizza on top of a tray. Since we’re building a house, I figured I’d try making something close to a pizza oven too, and she’s putting it to use right away.
“Are you sure, Reina!?”
“Yes. We have received permission from Suzaku to use this land, so I think it will be fine to build a relatively large house.”
“Then Luna wants a room too!”
“Fufu, we have to make it bigger than we imagined at first.”
Luna and Tiltue smile brightly at Reina’s words, and their imaginations start working right away, as they say they’re going to do this and that when their rooms are done.
It’s an adorable sight. It’s like two kids who are getting their own rooms for the first time.
“Are you sure about this?”
“The girls are happy, so why not? And it’s more fun when it’s livelier.”
Reina takes out the house plans from her storage magic, and starts rewriting things right away.
It started out as a house for just the two of us, but now all of a sudden we need a relatively large living room and more rooms.
We also need a guest room for people like Elga. This is starting to look less like a house and more like a mansion.
“All right, a lot of things are changing, but let’s keep on working.”
“Yes. Although it’s tough for me because it’s all so new…”
I turn and look at the happy Tiltue and Luna again, and that fills me with motivation and energy.
“All right, let’s go!”
I kind of get how fathers feel. Just a bit.
And that’s how this day goes.
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Finally, they start building a house.
Thanks.